title: Antimicrobial prophylaxis in oral surgery.
abstract: Postsurgical infections after oral surgery in healthy patients are almost exclusively wound infections caused by aerobic and anaerobic microorganisms endogenous to the oral cavity. Available data indicate that, in otherwise healthy patients, infectious complications after dentoalveolar surgery are decreased after penicillin prophylaxis. However, prophylaxis is still not recommended as a routine procedure, because wound infections are generally mild and easy to deal with. In maxillofacial surgery evidence exists that short term prophylaxis is preferable to long term; however, no definite proof is available to indicate that prophylaxis is preferable at all. In patients with locally or systemically reduced defence mechanisms, antimicrobial prophylaxis is generally advocated. Best defined regimens for antimicrobial prophylaxis in oral surgery concern patients at the risk of endocarditis, while guidelines still have an empiric base in immunocompromised patient groups.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Surgery, Huddinge University Hospital, Karolinska Institute, Sweden.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Heimdahl
authors.forename: C E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Nord
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D007108:Immune Tolerance; D011292:Premedication; D013515:Surgery, Oral; D013530:Surgical Wound Infection / Q000517:prevention & control*
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents